LEGACY OF…. Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright. HISTORY. Cartwright was born at Northampton on November 3, 1793. In 1812, he began his medical training as an apprentice to Dr. John Brewer. He attended the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

In 1851, he identified that two mental disorders,Drapetomania and Dysethesia Aethiopicawas the cause of laziness among slaves. • He quoted…”The disease is the natural offspring of Negro liberty-the liberty to be idle, to wallow in filth, and to indulge in improper food and drinks. "

Drapetomania • The desire to flee from servitude. • He stated that “it’s a mental disorder akin to alienation.” • Cartwright suggested that Negroes should be kept in a submissive state and treated like children, with "care, kindness, attention and humanity, to prevent and cure them from running away. "

Dysaethesia Aethiopica • A disease "affecting both mind and body. • According to Cartwright, dysaethesia aethiopica occurred “more among free negroes living in clusters by themselves, than among slaves on our plantations, and attacks only such slaves as live like free negroes in regard to diet, drinks, exercise, etc." — indeed, according to Cartwright, "nearly all [free negroes] are more or less afflicted with it, that have not got some white person to direct and to take care of them."

Cartwright felt that dysaethesia aethiopica was "easily curable, if treated on sound physiological principles." Insensitivity of the skin was one symptom of the disease, so the skin should be stimulated. • The best means to stimulate the skin is, first, to have the patient well washed with warm water and soap; then, to anoint it all over in oil, and to slap the oil in with a broad leather strap; then to put the patient to some hard kind of work in the sunshine.

>>>>MY VIEW<<<< • OMG….this diagnosis is cruel and it’s awful because the philosophy and policies that guided the treatment ofour ancestors still influence ourtreatment today….that’s just not right!!!!